Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Public Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration, Ministry of Education CNS Regeneration Collaborative Joint Laboratory, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Nutrients. 2022 Oct 26;14(21):4508. doi: 10.3390/nu14214508.
Capsaicin is the main active ingredient in chili peppers and spicy food. Animal studies provide contradictory results on the role of capsaicin in psychiatric disorders. There are no epidemiological studies to investigate the relationship between spicy food consumption and psychological health.
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. Psychological health was assessed with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and spicy food consumption was assessed as frequency, strength, and duration of consumption. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to determine the associations between spicy food consumption and psychological symptoms.
Our sample comprised 1771 participants (male = 674, mean age = 21.97 years). The odds of having depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms were 34.0%, 46.5%, and 19.1% in Chinese college students, respectively. After adjusting for a series of covariates, compared with non-consumers, the odds ratios (ORs) of depressive symptoms across spicy food consumption were 1.13 (95% CI: 0.87-1.46) for 1-2 days/week and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.02-1.86) for ≥3 days/week. With regard to anxiety symptoms, the ORs were 0.99 (95% CI: 0.78, 1.27) for 1-2 days/week and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.13-1.99) for ≥3 days/week. For stress symptoms, the ORs were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.66-1.23) for 1-2 days/week and 1.27 (95% CI: 0.89-1.80) for ≥3 days/week. The ORs for the depressive symptoms associated with different intensities of spicy food consumption were 1.00 (reference) for the reference group (non-consumers), 1.17 (95% CI: 0.90-1.52) for eating weakly spicy food, and 1.34 (95% CI: 1.01-1.78) for moderately to strongly spicy food.
The findings suggested a positive association between frequently spicy food consumption and depressive/anxiety symptoms in adolescents, and no such association was found for stress symptoms.
辣椒素是辣椒和辛辣食物中的主要活性成分。动物研究对辣椒素在精神疾病中的作用得出了相互矛盾的结果。目前尚无流行病学研究调查辛辣食物消费与心理健康之间的关系。
进行了一项横断面在线调查。使用抑郁焦虑压力量表评估心理健康，以频率、强度和食用持续时间评估辛辣食物的食用情况。采用多变量逻辑回归来确定辛辣食物消费与心理症状之间的关联。
我们的样本包括 1771 名参与者（男性=674 名，平均年龄 21.97 岁）。中国大学生中，抑郁、焦虑和压力症状的发生率分别为 34.0%、46.5%和 19.1%。在调整了一系列协变量后，与不食用者相比，每周食用 1-2 天的辛辣食物的抑郁症状的比值比（OR）为 1.13（95%CI：0.87-1.46），每周食用≥3 天的 OR 为 1.38（95%CI：1.02-1.86）。对于焦虑症状，每周食用 1-2 天的 OR 为 0.99（95%CI：0.78,1.27），每周食用≥3 天的 OR 为 1.50（95%CI：1.13-1.99）。对于压力症状，每周食用 1-2 天的 OR 为 0.90（95%CI：0.66-1.23），每周食用≥3 天的 OR 为 1.27（95%CI：0.89-1.80）。与不同强度的辛辣食物消费相关的抑郁症状的 OR 为 1.00（参考），对于参考组（不食用者），食用轻度辛辣食物的 OR 为 1.17（95%CI：0.90-1.52），食用中度至重度辛辣食物的 OR 为 1.34（95%CI：1.01-1.78）。
研究结果表明，青少年频繁食用辛辣食物与抑郁/焦虑症状呈正相关，而与压力症状无关。
